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1. Response to selection and evolvability of invasive populations

   https://doi.org/10.1007/s10709-006-9013-9  

   Lee, Carol Eunmi; Remfert, Jane Louise; Chang, Yu-Mei (February 2007, Genetica)
2. Precision Guided Sterile Males Suppress Populations of an Invasive Crop Pest

   https://doi.org/10.1089/genbio.2022.0019  

   Kandul, Nikolay P.; Liu, Junru; Buchman, Anna; Shriner, Isaiah C.; Corder, Rodrigo M.; Warsinger-Pepe, Natalie; Yang, Ting; Yadav, Amarish K.; Scott, Maxwell J.; Marshall, John M.; et al (August 2022, GEN Biotechnology)
3. Endosymbiont diversity across native and invasive brown widow spider populations

   https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-58723-2  

   Mowery, Monica A.; Rosenwald, Laura C.; Chapman, Eric; Lubin, Yael; Segoli, Michal; Khoza, Thembile; Lyle, Robin; White, Jennifer A. (April 2024, Scientific Reports)

   Abstract The invasive brown widow spider,Latrodectus geometricus(Araneae: Theridiidae), has spread in multiple locations around the world and, along with it, brought associated organisms such as endosymbionts. We investigated endosymbiont diversity and prevalence across putative native and invasive populations of this spider, predicting lower endosymbiont diversity across the invasive range compared to the native range. First, we characterized the microbial community in the putative native (South Africa) and invasive (Israel and the United States) ranges via high throughput 16S sequencing of 103 adult females. All specimens were dominated by reads from only 1–3 amplicon sequence variants (ASV), and most individuals were infected with an apparently uniform strain ofRhabdochlamydia. We also foundRhabdochlamydiain spider eggs, indicating that it is a maternally-inherited endosymbiont. Relatively few other ASV were detected, but included two variantRhabdochlamydiastrains and severalWolbachia,Spiroplasmaand Enterobacteriaceae strains. We then diagnostically screened 118 adult female spiders from native and invasive populations specifically forRhabdochlamydiaandWolbachia.We foundRhabdochlamydiain 86% of individuals and represented in all populations, which suggests that it is a consistent and potentially important associate ofL. geometricus. Wolbachiawas found at lower overall prevalence (14%) and was represented in all countries, but not all populations. In addition, we found evidence for geographic variation in endosymbiont prevalence: spiders from Israel were more likely to carryRhabdochlamydiathan those from the US and South Africa, andWolbachiawas geographically clustered in both Israel and South Africa. Characterizing endosymbiont prevalence and diversity is a first step in understanding their function inside the host and may shed light on the process of spread and population variability in cosmopolitan invasive species. 

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4. Genetic Diversity and Thermal Performance in Invasive and Native Populations of African Fig Flies

   https://doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msaa050  

   Comeault, Aaron A; Wang, Jeremy; Tittes, Silas; Isbell, Kristin; Ingley, Spencer; Hurlbert, Allen H; Matute, Daniel R; Parsch, John (February 2020, Molecular Biology and Evolution)

   Abstract During biological invasions, invasive populations can suffer losses of genetic diversity that are predicted to negatively impact their fitness/performance. Despite examples of invasive populations harboring lower diversity than conspecific populations in their native range, few studies have linked this lower diversity to a decrease in fitness. Using genome sequences, we show that invasive populations of the African fig fly, Zaprionus indianus, have less genetic diversity than conspecific populations in their native range and that diversity is proportionally lower in regions of the genome experiencing low recombination rates. This result suggests that selection may have played a role in lowering diversity in the invasive populations. We next use interspecific comparisons to show that genetic diversity remains relatively high in invasive populations of Z. indianus when compared with other closely related species. By comparing genetic diversity in orthologous gene regions, we also show that the genome-wide landscape of genetic diversity differs between invasive and native populations of Z. indianus indicating that invasion not only affects amounts of genetic diversity but also how that diversity is distributed across the genome. Finally, we use parameter estimates from thermal performance curves for 13 species of Zaprionus to show that Z. indianus has the broadest thermal niche of measured species, and that performance does not differ between invasive and native populations. These results illustrate how aspects of genetic diversity in invasive species can be decoupled from measures of fitness, and that a broad thermal niche may have helped facilitate Z. indianus’s range expansion. 

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5. Genomic Analyses of Phenotypic Differences Between Native and Invasive Populations of Diffuse Knapweed (Centaurea diffusa)

   https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2020.577635  

   Turner, Kathryn G.; Ostevik, Kate L.; Grassa, Christopher J.; Rieseberg, Loren H. (January 2021, Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution)

   null (Ed.)

   Invasive species represent excellent opportunities to study the evolutionary potential of traits important to success in novel environments. Although some ecologically important traits have been identified in invasive species, little is typically known about the genetic mechanisms that underlie invasion success in non-model species. Here, we use a genome-wide association (GWAS) approach to identify the genetic basis of trait variation in the non-model, invasive, diffuse knapweed [ Centaurea diffusa Lam. (Asteraceae)]. To assist with this analysis, we have assembled the first draft genome reference and fully annotated plastome assembly for this species, and one of the first from this large, weedy, genus, which is of major ecological and economic importance. We collected phenotype data from 372 individuals from four native and four invasive populations of C. diffusa grown in a common environment. Using these individuals, we produced reduced-representation genotype-by-sequencing (GBS) libraries and identified 7,058 SNPs. We identify two SNPs associated with leaf width in these populations, a trait which significantly varies between native and invasive populations. In this rosette forming species, increased leaf width is a major component of increased biomass, a common trait in invasive plants correlated with increased fitness. Finally, we use annotations from Arabidopsis thaliana to identify 98 candidate genes that are near the associated SNPs and highlight several good candidates for leaf width variation. 

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